James and Lily: Entwined
by Absenteeism
Summary: Lily and James are friends but when they're forced together, their worlds flip around.
1. The Entwinement

**Heyy guys! This is my first ever fanfic and I hope you like it.**

**It's a bit different because Lily and James are actually friends and James hasn't been after Lily for all those years.**

**Just wanted to say thank you to Corvis, my BETA for helping out with my first ever chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

There is a room in the Ministry of Magic that very few know about. It contains three very simple things: an inkbottle, a quill and an everlasting roll of parchment, which are all floating in midair as if held by invisible strings.

Everything has been still for a decade.

Until now. Suddenly, the quill moves, dips into the ink bottle, and writes quickly and precisely a few small words onto the parchment. And then everything goes back to how it was before.

* * *

"Morning Lily, Caitlyn"

"Morning James," they chorused.

It was 8.30am and the girls were sitting at the Gryffindor table having breakfast. James Potter dropped onto a seat opposite them and grabbed the plate of toast.

"What do we have now?" he asked yawning.

"Transfiguration."

"Was there homework?"

"Yes. You had to right a two foot essay on Animagi."

James' eyes opened wide, "Oops."

"James! Don't tell me you didn't do it! We'll be having our NEWTs in like, four months! You can't just not do your homework!" Lily admonished.

"I know, I know… I was doing the Potions essay and then I forgot. Slughorn would positively kill me if I didn't do it!" James argued back.

Lily didn't say anything but instead proceeded to open the letter that her owl Osatsore had just dropped neatly beside her plate.

_Miss Lily Evans,_

_If it were possible, I would like to meet you and Mr. James Potter in my office at 8, after dinner._

_Regards,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_P.S. It might help you to know that I am rather fond of Pepper Imps._

Lily Evans raised her eyebrow in surprise. She turned to James, "Professor Dumbledore wants us in his office tonight at 8. He didn't say why."

"It's probably just something about our Head duties. Don't worry about it."

Lily nodded slowly, not taking her eyes of the letter, grabbed her bag and went off to Transfiguration.

* * *

"James, it's almost eight. Maybe we should get going."

Lily and James were in there small Head's common room. They walked through the portrait that led to the Gryffindor common room and then out through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Once at the gargoyle leading to Dumbledore's office, Lily took a deep breath and said firmly, "Pepper Imps."

Immediately, the gargoyle jumped aside and Lily stepped on to the spiral staircase, James close behind her. She was about to knock when she heard a calm voice say, "Come in."

James and Lily entered the office. James looked very casual but Lily was instantly attracted by the large red and gold phoenix close to the headmaster's desk. "Please, sit down. I am about to tell you something that will change your lives."

Lily raised her eyebrows but said nothing but instead sat next to James on a rather comfortable looking couch. Dumbledore studied them over his half-moon glasses, his electric blue eyes disturbingly bright.

"There is a room in the Ministry of Magic that not many people know about. I only know about it because I accidentally ran upon it about 20 years ago while on my way to attending a trial. It binds people in a most peculiar way. Every 10 or 20 years the quill will choose two people and record their names on a roll of parchment. No one knows how the people are selected or how to break the charm set on the quill. Those who have tried have ended up quite unwell. These two people are destined to marry. It so happens that your names were recorded. You two either get married or… suffer the consequences."

"W-What? I can't get married to James!" Lily said, her tone desperate.

"I'm sorry Miss Evans. If you decide to follow with the wedding, there are some things that need to be taken into consideration."

"What are they, professor?" James asked, his face in his hands.

"The marriage should take place within a month of the woman's 18th birthday and it should be consummated within 24 hours, counting from the time the second person signs the document. A child must be born within 3 years of the wedding and the couple are to remain faithful to each other or..."

"What are the consequences, professor?"

"They are random. Some have been unable to reproduce, others were driven into insanity, some have been physically harmed, some have seen no effects at all and others were reported dead."

Neither Lily nor James said anything and Dumbledore simply added, "I suggest you take sometime to think about what you will do. This should be a decision made by the two of you. You are both excused from classes tomorrow."

"Professor? Can Lily and I go? We have to talk about this."

"Certainly Mr. Potter. I really am very sorry about all this."

James nodded regretfully and helped Lily up. She seemed to still be in shock, not able to say or do anything.

Quietly, they went down the staircase and walked back to their Common Room. About half-way, James touched Lily softly on the shoulder, "I'm sorry, Lily."

At this, Lily burst into tears. James enveloped her in a light hug and they slowly kept walking. Once they had entered the Gryffindor common room, Lily rushed past Caitlyn who had just been about to ask how it had gone with Dumbledore. James muttered a quick sorry and went in after her.

* * *

James found Lily lying on the couch crying her eyes out. He approached her and took her into a hug.

"Lily, it's going to be alright. We'll work it out somehow. Don't cry. Let's talk about it!"

"I'm too young to get married, James! I'll just barely be 18! And then I'm supposed to have a kid in three years. How can I not be upset about this! You're my friend, not my fiancée!" Lily half-shrieked, tears pouring freely down her cheeks.

"This isn't my fault Lily! Don't just start screaming at me! How do you think I feel about this! I don't want to die! I don't want this to happen either! Do you really think I'm enjoying it? Trust me, the idea of getting you pregnant is not appealing!"

Lily stopped crying all of a sudden and looked at James with a shocked, hurt look on her face.

"W-What?"

"Oh God, Lily! I didn't mean it that way, I swear I didn't! You're very pretty, I wasn't saying your not!" James said, desperately trying to cover up his mistake.

"Whatever James. We're friends. I'm glad you don't think about me that way, it would just mess everything up. More than it already is messed up."

"Lily… what do you want to do? Like, what do you really want to do? Do you want to go through with this? If you do, I'll go through with it too. I just don't want to force you into anything."

"It's not like we have much of a choice, is it? I'll get married to you if that's what you're asking. But it'll be ever so hard… we'll only be 18 and we don't have any feelings for each other. How are we supposed to go through with this? I really don't want our friendship to get messed up. God James, what're we going to do!"

"We'll work it out. Somehow. We will, I know we will. We'll get a house and live there together and then you'll get pregnant and everything will be fine. I'll make sure nothing happens to you r the baby. I promise."

Lily nodded feebly.

"James…"

"Hmm?"

"I don't really want to make a big deal about the marriage. We'll just get dressed up a little and go down to the Ministry to sign the papers. And then we'll er… consummate the marriage. I don't want to attract attention towards it. Don't want a big celebration and a party. Just something quiet. You don't mind do you?"

"No Lily, that's fine. It'll be alright."

"Right. Are you going to classes tomorrow?"

"Don't think so. Maybe we could talk about stuff a bit more. I don't want to rush you but I think it'd be best if we got it over and done with."

"Yeah. Definitely. Anyways, I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."

"Night. Sweet dreams, Lily."

He watched sadly as Lily walked away and went into her room. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

* * *

**Ok guys, that was chapter one. Please review and tell me what you thought of it!**


	2. Breaking The News

**Heyy guys! Sorry for the wait, I've been quite busy with school and stuff. I have holidays tomorrow and after tomorrow and then there's the weekend so I'll be able towrite lots of chapters so updates will be daily. Enjoy! **

**

* * *

**

The next day James Potter woke up with an unusually large headache. He looked around. Somehow his room didn't look the same to him. It was still his room with the blue bed covers and the turquoise curtains; but he felt that with yesterday's events, now nothing would be the same.

He ran his hands through his hair. His head felt strangely heavy and painful. He had fallen asleep late, thinking about the situation with him and Lily. He had never thought of Lily in that way, she was his friend and it felt so unfair that it was going to change because of a stupid quill. Lily deserved someone different, someone much better.

Slowly he got up and walked to the bathroom. He needed a shower to clear his head. To wash it all away.

As he went in, he couldn't help but admire the genius behind this bathroom. It had been charmed many, many years ago to modify itself to the needs of the user. James couldn't think of a better place to relax. The marble room with the large tub in the middle was just perfect. He turned on the taps surrounding it and took off his clothes. As he climbed in, he felt his body relax and his worries softly floating away.

He was lazily sitting there appreciating the piece and quiet surrounding him when suddenly the door clicked and in walked a red head wearing a tiny green silk robe, loosely tied around her waist. She was about to remove it when she spotted James. Her eyes grew wide and she desperately tried to cover herself up.

"Sorry James, I should have knocked!"

With that, she ran out, closing the door behind her.

James sighed and closed his eyes again. The image of Lily untying her robe was burnt in his head and it wouldn't go away. He had gotten a very good look at her legs and he couldn't help but admit that they were quite appealing. Shocked at his own thoughts, he climbed out and wrapped a towel around his waist.

"Lily, you can use the bathroom now!" he called and walked back to his room.

* * *

Lily walked into the common room. James was sprawled out on an armchair lost in thought. As she sat on the couch, he snapped out of it and his eyes focused on her.

"Morning," he said softly.

She smiled at him.

"I'm starving. There's probably no food in the Great Hall, it's already ten. Do you know the way to the kitchens?" Lily asked.

James grinned and nodded.

"How can I not know where it is? Sirius spends quite a lot of his time in there. I actually feel bad for the house elves."

"There are house elves in the kitchens! I've never seen a house elf in my life!" Lily said excitedly.

"C'mon then, they'll be happy to give us some food!" James said, already halfway to the portrait.

* * *

It turned out that James was right. They had been welcomed by a rather large group of house elves with wide, toothy grins.

As they brought them breakfast Lily looked around at the surroundings in amazement. Brass pots and pans covered the walls around her and she couldn't believe the number of house elves in there.

"Lily?"

She turned around to see James gazing at her.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering… you know how Valentine's Day is in two weeks?"

Lily nodded slowly, not knowing where the conversation was going.

"Well, it's a Hogsmeade weekend. I was thinking maybe we could go and look for a house or something. We could ask Dumbledore for special permission to go and visit some places. You know, so we could, er… get it over and done with and we wouldn't have to worry about it," James added quickly.

"Um… that's fine. I think. But just not something too big. I'm more worried about telling my parents. I'll have to go that day too. How are they going to react? How is Caitlyn going to react! What're we going to tell everyone?"

James placed his hand comfortingly on Lily's shoulder.

"Lily, I promise I won't let anything happen. It'll be fine, I swear. We'll get through this. Just don't worry about it."

Lily nodded softly, and put down a half-eaten piece of toast.

"I'm going to go back to my room, I need to sleep."

With that, she got up, gave James a sympathetic smile, thanked the house elves and walked out.

* * *

That night James and Lily both exited the Heads' Common Room. They were going to have dinner with everyone else in the Great Hall and tell their friends about the wedding. Lily was especially scared of what could happen. Knowing Caitlyn, she could either scream with happiness, get over excited and start planning a massive wedding, or be sympathetic about it and help Lily out.

She sat at the table and was instantly attacked by Caitlyn.

"What happened yesterday with Dumbledore! Why didn't you and James come to class? I haven't seen you all day!"

Lily sighed. She just knew this was going to happen.

"You have to swear you won't tell anyone. Apparently there's this place in the Ministry where they arrange marriages randomly and then the people have to get married or something really bad will happen. James and I have to get married within a month of my 18th birthday."

"OH MY GOD!" Caitlyn screamed. People immediately turned around to stare at both her and Lily.

"Caitlyn…! No one's supposed to know about this so don't go blabbing. I'm serious. I know you like to gossip but please, please keep your mouth shut. Don't do it like the other time when you went and told everyone that I was going to break up with Ryan."

"Sorry," Caitlyn apologized. "I really can't believe you're getting married! This is so much to take in!"

"Yeah. And the worst bit – get this – we have to consummate the marriage within 24 hours of the wedding. And I have to have at least one kid in the two years after that. I have nothing against James or anything but somehow I really don't think we're meant to be. I mean… we're friends. You don't marry your friends!"

Lily sighed. Caitlyn was looking at her with her eyes wide.

"I can't believe my best friend is getting married! And you're going to be losing your virginity to him! I mean, they always said you should do it with someone you love and never under pressure. If there isn't any pressure on you here, then I'm the Tooth Fairy. James isn't exactly Mr. Romantic." Caitlyn whispered, looking around to check no one was listening.

"I know… Do you think it will hurt? I can't believe this is happening to me! What's my family going to say? Petunia is going to be terrible! God, I want to kill whoever created that freaking quill. Really." Lily stated nervously.

Caitlyn simply smiled sympathetically and hugged her. Lily would really be needing her help.

* * *

For James it hadn't gone any better. Sirius had burst out laughing, catching peoples' attention and Remus had simply smiled comfortingly. Sirius' laughter was really starting to annoy him. He would stop only to start all over again five seconds later.

"You have to consummate the marriage! You're actually going to see Lily naked? Prongs, I'm sorry but that's hilarious! I mean, she's a virgin and all." Sirius joked.

"Yes Sirius, and may I remind you, so am I. Though I would be very happy if you would keep it to yourself and not share it with everyone around you! I really don't see what's so hilarious. I'm being forced to marry Lily and she's my friend. You don't marry your friends Padfoot, you marry people you like." James had lectured.

"It will end up okay in the end, James. You and Lily will get past that. You just have to be very careful with what you say, you know how girls are. Say something wrong and they attack you! So just be very, very nice to her and be very understanding," Remus had told James gently.

"Yeah. Right. I'll do just that."

James sighed and looked away. A few seats along the table was a very shocked Caitlyn staring at a depressed looking Lily. He didn't want her to suffer. Not now, not ever.

* * *

**OK guys, that's it for now, expect another update tomorrow.  
**

**Sara**

**P.S. Please review!**


	3. Accepting

"So, how'd it go with Caitlyn?"

James plopped down on the couch in front of the fire. He had just gotten back from dinner to find Lily sitting on an armchair looking distressed.

Lily sighed.

"She was quite nice about it. Got totally shocked when I said we had to have sex!"

Lily's eyes went very, very wide. She was not supposed to say that. An awkward silence took over the room. James shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah. Sirius thought it was funny," James mumbled.

"Had a good laugh about it, did you? Made fun of poor little Lily who's going to be the next one on your shag list! Think I'm just another one of your whores, don't you? That I'm just another girl falling at your feet!" Lily accused. She couldn't believe his nerve. She was irritated and wasn't about to let James get away. "Well guess what James, if my life wasn't in cause, I wouldn't shag you if you were the last guy on earth! I hate you; you're pathetic! I wish I had never met you, I wish you had never been born!"

With that, Lily burst out crying and run up the stairs, the door banging as she closed it. Stupid, stupid James Potter and Sirius Black! She let the tears fall freely down her face as she slid down, her back leaning on the door. She hugged her knees to herself and cried. She cried like she had never cried before. She cried so much that she had no tears left, her sobs coming out dry and hollow, her throat hurting. She cried all through the night.

* * *

The next day James woke up. He was lying comfortably in bed, appreciating the soft warmth. Today he didn't have a headache, his body didn't feel heavy, his room looked the same. Today he felt empty. Empty, empty, empty. He didn't feel anything really.

Lily's words last night had hit him like whips. Was this really what she thought of him? That he went around having sex with every girl! That he had really laughed at her?

He could hardly believe her. James wasn't even very experienced. He had snogged past girlfriends but he hadn't ever had sex. Not even gone close to that. His girlfriends had tried but he always let them down. He had liked them but why have sex if there was nothing else there? Why not just wait until he'd find someone really special and share the experience with them?

Apparently this wouldn't be happening. The things Lily had said were so untrue it made his body ache all over. Or it would have if he felt anything at all. But he was numb.

However, he suddenly felt something. It was deep, deep inside, he almost couldn't feel it. He hadn't even realised it was there. He was hurt.

* * *

Lily woke up and blinked, wondering where she was. She blinked a few more times and realized she was lying on the wood floor, her back leaning on the door. Her back hurt, her hair was all over the place and her head was weighing her down.

Lily got up, and collapsed on her bed, bringing her head to her hands. She hadn't meant to scream at James. She wasn't even sure she meant all those things she said. She didn't hate him. They had been such good friends since their First Year and now it was all gone. She groaned. It was all going so wrong.

* * *

James Potter hadn't gone to classes that day. He knew he'd get in trouble for it but he didn't care. He had stayed up most of the night hearing Lily crying. Her sobs were like knifes thrown at him.

He heard the sound of water from the bathroom. That could only mean one thing. Lily was up.

Once the water had stopped running and he heard the door being closed, he lazily climbed out of bed. He was going to shower, get dressed and then talk to Lily. They were going to talk about this whether she liked it or not.

* * *

Lily walked out of her room. She really didn't want to go to class. She knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate so why bother? She sat on an arm chair and jumped as she saw James sitting on the couch looking at her with a very serious look on his face.

Lily sighed. She knew what this is about and she hated herself for it. She shouldn't have said those things. She really, really shouldn't have.

* * *

James sat up as he heard Lily's door open behind him. He watched as she sat on an armchair and jumped as she saw him staring at her.

"Lily we need to talk."

It was the key phrase. He had promised to himself that he'd never use it but now was the right time to break this promise.

"Um… Okay."

James sensed the nervousness in Lily's voice and felt a small part of him soften.

"I heard you crying last night," he said quietly, looking for her reaction.

"Oh, er, that, well…" Lily stuttered. She stopped knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere this way. "I'm sorry James, I really, really am. I shouldn't have said those things, it was horrible of me."

"OK."

Lily gave a sigh of relief then stopped and look startled. Was James really forgiving her after she had said all those terrible things? He couldn't possibly be!

"That doesn't mean I forgive you Lily," James said as if she had been reading her thoughts. "Just… tell me Lily, do you really think those things about me?"

"I… I don't know. God, James, I don't know! You seem so popular with girls and sometimes you just disappear with one of them. I mean, what am I supposed to think!" Lily answered, feeling exasperated.

"Lily, I'm a virgin. I have never slept with anyone. And I know you haven't either so don't even try to pretend your so experienced."

Lily nodded. "I'm sorry James. Really… can I make it up to you?"

James grinned. "You could ask Dumbledore about the Hogsmeade trip, your better with that kind of stuff."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Whatever…"

Lily returned from Dumbledore's office feeling very light and happy. She had explained that neither her or James had gone to classes and he had been very understanding and promised to talk to their teachers about it. He had also allowed James and Lily to go looking for a house on the Hogsmeade weekend. It had gone so well she couldn't help but laugh.

She walked into the Heads' Common Room to find an expectant James waiting for her. She laughed.

"He said it was OK and he'd give us another weekend if we needed some more time!"

"Lily, that's great!" James exclaimed and jumped up. He hugged Lily tight against him, hardly able to contain his happiness.

They held onto each other for a while until Lily whispered in James' ear, "James, you can let go now…"

James let go of her and she flashed him a grin before running into her room.

* * *

Hope you liked it, please review!


	4. Godric's Hollow

**A/N: Heyy! Sorry for the (very) long wait for this chapter. I'm on holidays now for three weeks so I'll be able to update frequently. Also, thank you for all the positive reviews. If you've gotten any ideas, share them, I'm open to anything new! Enjoy!

* * *

**

"Lilyyy… Hurry up!" James wined, standing close to the bathroom door.

Lily laughed and came out, tying her scarf around her neck.

"There! Happy?" she asked teasingly. "Let's go then!"

Lily and James walked out through the portrait and again through the portrait of the Fat Lady and went down to the main gates. They made small talk all the way to Hogsmeade and as they reached the Real Estate Agency, James took Lily's hand in his. Lily looked up at him startled and he let go but a second later Lily had grabbed his hand.

Squeezing Lily's hand, James stepped in, looking around.

"Mr Potter?"

James and Lily turned around to see a tall woman with short hair and rectangular-shaped glasses. She sat at a desk and gestured to the desks in front. As they sat down she smiled warmly at them.

"You're early – excellent! I'm Mary-Anne Abbott, pleasure to meet you! I just finished looking through the files. Correct me if I'm wrong but you asked for a two-storey house with three bedrooms. Found some nice ones for you and your girlfriend," she said quickly, gesturing to Lily, causing her to shift uncomfortably, before going back to her folder. "I'm afraid some of the houses are in a Muggle area but hopefully that won't be an inconvenience. You can always apparate, thank goodness to that! Right then, ready to go? We'll be travelling by floo, make sure we all end up in the right place!"

They got up and followed Ms. Abbott to the back where a large fireplace occupied half the wall.

"Now, if you'll just grab a pinch of powder, throw it in, step inside the fireplace and read out the name on this slip of paper and you'll be there in a tick. Go on then!"

* * *

Lily got up, brushing soot off her robes. She moved just as James came flying out of the fireplace close behind her. They were in and old living room with old-fashioned, dark furniture.

Lily wrinkled her nose. She knew that without the furniture and with a different décor it would look different but she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was some sort of negative atmosphere around her. It was heavy and dark and she was even afraid to breathe, scared that something might climb out of the shadows and come at her. She jumped as she felt something grabbing her hand but sighed as she saw it was James who was squeezed it softly, giving her a soft smile.

"Let's move along then, got five other houses to see. This house is pretty big, excellent for you to raise children, rooms are very wide, so much space for them to play and have their own privacy."

15 minutes later James and Lily exchanged a look, rolled their eyes and sighed. The house was horrible. The design, the environment, it was most definitely NOT the best place to have kids.

"And that's it then! Gorgeous house, excellent for a young couple like yourselves. Now, if I may, we have to visit the next house, don't have all day, now, do we? Right then, if you'll just call out the address right here…"

* * *

Three hours later Lily stepped into the fireplace for the fifth time that day and called out, "Godric's Hollow!"

As she came shooting out of the fireplace, she knew this was it. She was in living room with large windows, letting in lots of light. Lily looked outside and smiled to herself as she saw the garden that was currently frozen and covered in snow but she could just imagine it in the summer with fresh, green grass and large bushes full of exotic flowers. They'd sunbathe and under a sun umbrella would be a small pushchair with a little baby sleeping. Later, when their baby grew up they'd build a pool and spend their days outside, having picnics and swimming. Then, they're child would go to Hogwarts and they'd love it. She could picture every little bit and despite the circumstances in which James and her were getting married, she liked what she saw.

"Like it?" asked a soft voice in a whisper. Lily squirmed with the warm breath tickling her ear and turned. James was smiling down at her.

"I love it. This is so pretty!" She answered, grinning back.

"Shall we continue with the tour then?"

They turned around to see Mary-Anne smiling brightly.

"Oh, you'll love this one! Brilliant house, built just a few years ago. Very modern, muggle architectures and it's in a muggle area. The old owner's a wizard actually, moved away to Sussex just a couple of weeks ago. I'm afraid he didn't leave the furniture, but then again, I don't think that'll be much of a problem. Let's keep going then!"

The house was gorgeous. The kitchen was very pretty, with a marble surface and the modern appliances. The rooms were spacious, all painted in neutral colours with a simple design. It gave off this feeling of well-being and relaxation that Lily couldn't possibly explain. It was everywhere, all around her, almost as if omnipresent. It gave her the best feeling and she couldn't shake it off. She didn't want to.

When they finished looking around Lily was almost jumping with excitement. This was it. This was where she and James would live and have kids. It was all so perfect she forgot where she was, she forgot what was going around her and let her imagination get the better of her. How could she not?

* * *

"Right then, let's get down to business. The house in question is in Godric's Hollow and it's in a muggle area and costs 30,000 galleons. If you're willing to, you could purchase the house in a few days; I just need to get the proper paperwork down at the Ministry."

They were back in the Real Estate Agency, sitting in front of Mary-Anne's desk. She was smiling brightly at them, showing off her sparkly white teeth.

"That'd be great," James answered, smiling down at Lily.

"Alright then, just need you to sign some papers here so I can show at the Ministry. If you'd just read through and check it's OK and sign it, the house will be yours in under a week. How does that sound?"

"Brilliant! It was a really gorgeous house, we were lucky or someone else might have bought it," Lily replied.

* * *

"So, what did you think of the house?" James asked as they walked back to Hogwarts, hand in hand.

"It's gorgeous! And it's ours… or at least it will be. God, I'm so glad it's all going so well. I mean, imagine it all went terribly wrong and we couldn't find a nice house! I don't think I could stand the pressure."

James grinned at Lily's happiness. He too felt light and happy and like nothing could spoil this moment of perfection. He wanted to hug Lily and hold on to her forever.

* * *

After dinner and after telling their friends all about their day, James and Lily headed into the Heads' Common Room.

"Well, I guess I'll just go to bed then, had a long day!" Lily said grinning shyly.

"Yeah…" James muttered looking into Lily's eyes. He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek but halfway through, he moved his head and his lips met Lily's. They kissed for a few moments before parting and Lily smiled gently and walked into her room, shutting the door quietly behind her, leaving an extremely pleased James Potter standing outside it.

* * *

**Loved it? Hated it? Review!**


	5. Meet The Parents

**Here's Chapter 5... Enjoy!**

**EDIT 8/Feb/06: This chapter has now been beta-ed.**

**

* * *

**Lily Evans woke up feeling unusually happy. Yesterday had gone well, they'd found the perfect house and her and James were actually getting along despite the circumstances. To top it off, they had kissed the night before. She didn't know what that was all about but truthfully, she didn't really care. She had enjoyed it and that's all that mattered. 

She got out of bed, stretching her arms, yawning. It was Sunday today and she had finished off all her homework during the week so she was free for the day. She had thought of asking Dumbledore for permission to go home and tell her parents about the wedding and the house. She had no idea how they'd react but she knew she had to tell them about it as soon as possible.

Sighing, Lily walked into the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the shower before taking off her clothes and getting in.

* * *

Lily was already half way through breakfast when James walked in with a wide smile. He plopped down next to her, "Morning Lily!" 

James didn't notice Lily's startled look as he spooned scrambled eggs onto his plate and he kept eating. He had woken up in a good mood and nothing was going to spoil it for him.

Lily had kissed him. Wasn't that a reason to be happy?

* * *

James and Lily sat in the Heads' Common Room at a round and very low desk. James was doing his homework, grinning the whole time whilst Lily planned out a studying timetable for the N.E.W.T.s. 

Every once in a while, James would sigh softly and smile widely before going back to writing his Defence Against The Dark Arts essay. The fifteenth time it happened, Lily got tired of hearing it, "Is everything alright, James?"

"Everything's perfect, Lily. Why?"

"You seem… happy. Anything anywhere near special happen that I should know of?"

James gave Lily a hurt look and his face fell, "No, nothing."

"James…" Lily started.

"I'm fine, Lily," James answered sadly.

So the kiss hadn't been special. Great. That was just what he needed to hear. Sure, he'd always thought of Lily as a friend but with the whole wedding thing, he just felt that they should somehow try to re-arrange their relationship. After all, friends don't get married. Maybe if they started acting a little more romantic towards each other it would be easier. It had seemed to him that the kiss had been their first step. Clearly, Lily didn't agree.

"James, did I do something wrong?" Lily asked worriedly.

"No, nothing, Lily."

"James is this about yesterday?"

James raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "Gee, your fast."

"James- wait, what? Did I just miss something right there? Cause I really don't get it!"

"I thought that kiss meant something! Obviously it didn't, did it?" James asked, raising his voice.

"What? James, I should remind you that it was you kissing me, so I should be the one asking that! What the hell is your problem?" Lily asked, frowning.

James huffed noisily and went back to his essay.

"Not talking to me now?"

"Only when necessary."

"Fine," Lily said, getting up and walking to the portrait hole.

"Where're you going?"

"I thought you weren't going to talk to me!"

"Only when necessary, Lily, only when necessary."

James and Lily exchanged a look and burst out laughing.

* * *

Lily climbed back into the Heads' Common Room. 

"James…"

"Hang on a second, Lily, just got to finish this line," James muttered as he scribbled away. "There! What did you want?"

"I just spoke to Professor Dumbledore and he said it would be fine if we could go and see our parents for today to tell them about all of this. We've put it off for too long," Lily started, nibbling her lower lip. "I thought maybe you might want to come. My parents will want to meet you and your parents might at least want to know who I am. If you don't want to, it's ok, I just though that-"

"Lily, it's fine, I'll go with you. I just have to owl my parents, tell them we'll be there," James said, putting away his things.

"Great! Dumbledore already told my parents I'd be there, they won't mind you going. We're having lunch there. And then we could talk to your parents…" Lily trailed away and followed James as he went up to the owlery.

* * *

"Lily, honey, I've missed you so much!" 

Lily laughed as she was pulled into a tight hug, "Hey mom!"

As her mom let go she stepped back to her husband and looked at James, smiling brightly.

"Mom, Dad, this is James. James… these are my parents."

"Jack Evans, nice to meet you," Lily's dad grinned widely at James, shaking his hand.

"Janie Evans, pleasure. Now… you're Lily's boyfriend, aren't you?" she asked.

"Er… not really, Mom. We've actually got some stuff we need to tell you. How long is it before lunch?"

"Oh, it'll be thirty minutes before it's ready. Shall we go into the living room so we can talk?"

As they settled in, Lily and James on the couch and her parents on another, Janie looked expectantly at them.

"Mom, Dad. James and I are getting married."

Silence.

"We're not really seeing each other… it's a bit complicated."

More silence.

"Maybe I should explain… there's this quill down at the Ministry of Magic and it records two names every decade or so. These two people have to get married with a month of the woman's' 18th birthday, they have to consummate the marriage in 24 hours and have to have at least one child in two years. If they don't," Lily paused nervously biting her lip. "If they don't, something terrible could happen. They could die, they could become infertile, they could become insane. The consequences aren't definite and there haven't been enough cases to come up with a pattern. Mine and James' names were recorded recently. We're getting married."

"Oh, honey!" Janie exclaimed, taking both her daughter and James in a big hug. "You don't have to worry, we'll be here for you, we'll help with everything you need. We'll help you find the house, we could help pay for it."

"Thanks Mom! We actually went looking for a house yesterday and we found one but I don't know how we're going to get the money to pay it. I mean, we're going to work obviously but we're going to have to pay for so many other things. I honestly don't know how we're going to survive!" Lily whined, tears welling up in her eyes.

James glanced sadly around and watched as Lily and her parents comforted each other, coming up with all sorts of options. Lily, Janie, Jack… how many other people were going to be affected by all of this? It wasn't just him and Lily like he'd thought. There were other people concerned. People who cared.

* * *

Lily and James apparated into the Potters' entrance hall. It hadn't gone too bad at Lily's house and the mood had lightened up for lunch where they discussed their plans. Now it was the Potters' turn. 

"Mum? Dad?" James called, looking around.

"I'm coming down, honey!"

A moment later, a tall woman with short chestnut hair and hazel eyes appeared at the top of the staircase. When she got to the bottom she gave James a big hug.

"Oh God, I've missed you!" she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She turned to Lily, "You must be Lily! I'm Amy! James said you'd be coming, wonderful to meet you!"

She smiled warmly at them and gestured upstairs. "Dad's in the living room, we should go up there to talk!"

Once in the living room, after having greeted James father, they explained the situation to his parents. They weren't as upset about it as Lily's parents had been which was a relief. They too offered to help at all times.

Just as they were about to leave, Amy pulled Lily aside for a moment.

"Lily… I know this shouldn't be happening to you two but I really think you're right for James. James can get irritable when he's under pressure and I just hope you don't fall apart because of that," she paused. You're a wonderful person and I really think you'll do him some good. I hope you and my son are very happy together."

"Thank you, Amy. I'll watch out for "Irritable James" but don't worry, I can handle it. He's handled by bad moods for a while to. It's going to be nice having you as a mother-in-law."

With a final hug to James' parents, James and Lily apparated away.

* * *

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" 

"No, not really. I liked your parents, they were great. And my parents seemed to like you too," Lily answered, letting out a large sigh. It had been one long day.

"Everyone likes me, Lily, did you ever doubt that?" James asked teasingly.

"Course I did!"

James gasped mockingly, "That isn't possible!"

"Course it isn't! Because Slughorn just loves you, doesn't he James?"

They laughed together and James pulled her towards him. He looked into Lily's eyes. She was obviously exhausted but there was the trace of some sort of glitter of amusement that never seemed to leave her. She leant towards him and closed her eyes half a second before their lips met. This kiss was different. Not short and innocent but more passionate and needy. Lily's arms snaked around James' waist, pulling him towards her. Soon he was over her and they were entwined, embraced together.

Suddenly they broke apart, gasping for breath.

"We really shouldn't be doing this," Lily whispered faintly.

James nodded reluctantly, "We're just kissing. We're not doing anything wrong."

"We're going too fast, James. I- I like kissing you but maybe we should take it slower. I'm scared we'll rush stuff."

"OK," James whispered back looking disappointed. He got off Lily and sat at the end of the couch, by her feet.

"James, I'm sorry. I just don't want things to go wrong!"

With that, Lily got up and with a small "Good night" to James she disappeared into her bedroom.

* * *

**Review!**


	6. White Gold With Diamonds

**Enjoy!**

**EDIT 8/Feb/06: This chapter has now been beta-ed.

* * *

**

As Lily walked into the Great Hall the next morning she couldn't help but notice that people were staring at her a little more than usual. She had become fairly popular over the years and since becoming Head Girl, just about everyone in school knew who she was. It was normal for people to wave or smile at her, as if just to say, "Hi!" but today, it was different. There wasn't much waving and smiling going on, more like laughter and fingers pointing in her direction. She sat down next to Caitlyn with a sigh.

"I swear it wasn't me!"

Lily looked at Caitlyn, her eyebrows raised.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, and it wasn't me."

"Or me!"

Lily glanced at Sirius and Remus. What was going on?

"What wasn't you?" she asked, frowning, obviously confused.

"You haven't heard? Oh God," Caitlyn said as she dropped Witch Weekly on Lily's empty plate. She watched as she saw her friend's eyes go wide and she too looked down at the headline.

'_Pandora's Quill – The Legend (Or Not!)_

_By Sandy Skeeter_

_For centuries, there have been many rumours of a Quill that was bewitched by Pandora, a character from Greek Mythology. Pandora is widely known for having been the one to open a box that released all evil. As if that wasn't enough, recently _Witch Weekly_ discovered that the rumoured Quill, does, in fact, exist._

_The Quill was created by Pandora when she was locked away by the Greek Gods. Furious with everyone and depressed by the lack of love in her life, she cursed a goose feather quill to record the name of two people who would then be forced to marry, or suffer the consequences. This Quill is currently locked up in the Ministry of Magic and no one has yet been able to break the curse binding it._

_Very recently, the Quill has recorded the names of two teenagers currently studying at Hogwarts – Lily Evans and James Potter. This couple will be forced to get married within a month of Ms. Evans' 18th birthday and they must then consummate the marriage within 24 hours of the wedding. If they do not follow the strict rules, terrible things will happen. _Witch Weekly_ has been unable to contact Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans and it is not yet known if they will be getting married or not.'_

Lily opened her mouth, to speak but no sound came out as shock overcame her. How! How had this Skeeter woman found out about her and James? Everyone knew about it now. Everyone! She looked up at Caitlyn, her eyes tearful.

"I'm sorry, Lily. They really have nothing else to talk about, do they?"

"J- James," Lily whispered softly. "I have to go and look for James."

As Lily ran out of the Great Hall, several pairs of eyes following her, unwanted tears started falling down her cheeks. How could this have gone so wrong? Just yesterday she had been meeting James' parents and having a perfectly fine time and now it had all been _ruined_! She ran up various staircases, dry sobs escaping from her throat. Suddenly, she crashed into something and fell.

"Lily?" James asked.

Lily looked up slowly and shrieked, "You!"

"Lily- what?" he asked, confused.

"You did it! You! I can't believe you!" she continued shouting, ignoring his protests. "You did it! You told _Witch Weekly_ about the quill, didn't you! It's all your fault, now everyone knows about us getting married!"

"Everyone knows?" he croaked.

"Oh, God. You really didn't do it, did you?" she asked.

She blushed as he shook his head, frowning in confusion.

"Crap!"

* * *

James dropped onto the bench, taking a seat next to Caitlyn who was finishing off breakfast looking worried.

"Have you heard?" Remus asked anxiously.

"Yeah. Lily told me. Did a little screaming as well. I bet she's on her period!"

"No, that's next week," Caitlyn said before she could stop herself. When Remus, James and Sirius stared at her, looking startled, she blushed. "Sorry… Lily and I have our periods at the same time. It's been scientifically proven that if two girls are together a lot of the time, their hormones re-adjust themselves and they have their period simultaneously. Or so Lily said."

Sirius shook his head, "That is _nasty_!"

Caitlyn shrugged and went back to eating her food, looking up every once in a while to listen in on the conversation.

"James, that girl is going to kill you! I'm really not sure you should go along with this marriage thing. Who knows, being dead might be better than living with her for the rest of your life!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Gee, thanks, that helps," James answered looking sullen.

"Prongs, ignore Padfoot, he's being stupid. Just go calm with her and if she starts yelling, just cast a silencing charm on her or something."

"You will do no such thing!" Caitlyn lectured. "Lily's PMSing and it's normal for her to be like this. Don't you go making it worse."

"What's PMS?" James asked incredulously.

"Pre-menstrual syndrome. Before a girl gets her period, she isn't in a very good mood. She won't react well to stuff. Give her chocolate. If you do anything to Lily, I swear I will beat the crap out of you!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you PMSing too?" Sirius asked smirking, his eyebrows raised.

James, Sirius and Remus burst out laughing as Caitlyn yelled "Jerk!" and stalked off, looking angrier than they had ever seen her.

* * *

After dinner, James walked into the Heads' Common Room. He had only seen Lily in class and hadn't had much time to talk to her. People had been stalking both of them all day, asking them if they really were going to get married and why Lily wasn't wearing a ring. He knocked on her door, holding a small box in his hand.

"Come in."

Slowly, James opened the door and stepped in. Lily was sitting on her bed, propped up on her pillows, her legs stretched out. James couldn't help but notice once again how gorgeous her legs were. She was showing a lot of skin with a tiny green night gown that only went about half-way down her thigh.

"Hey," she whispered softly. "Caitlyn said you guys were talking about me at breakfast. And about my period."

"Yeah, she was giving us the details on how your hormones work. Actually, I brought you this. I noticed you usually buy these and I thought you might like them." James said giving Lily the box as he sat down at her feet.

"_Honeydukes Finest Nougat Milk Chocolate_," Lily read and smiled at him before breaking off a big piece and stuffing it in her mouth. "James, thank you _so_ much, it's my favourite."

"It's OK. How are you? Caitlyn told me you were PMSing. I'm sorry about this thing in _Witch Weekly_, I wish I knew how Skeeter found out. This really shouldn't be happening to us, especially because of this whole thing of us getting forced to get married and all."

"I think I might kill whoever told her. This is just so stupid. And I'm sorry for shouting at you this morning; it was s_o_ stupid of me." Lily said, biting her bottom lip.

"It's OK, it must have been a really big shock for you to get there and see it all over that freaking magazine." James said, sighing. "Which reminds me, do you want me to get you a ring? I hadn't really thought about it, but maybe it would be more appropriate. If you want."

"James, you really shouldn't worry about it. I mean, I'd love a ring, but I understand if you can't get me one, they're really expensive and we have to pay the house and then we'll have to pay the bills and the money from our parents won't be enough." She answered, comfortingly.

"I'll get you one. What kind of ring would you like?" he asked, grinning softly as he gently grabbed her hands.

"Oh, God, James, I don't know. Maybe… white gold. With lots of tiny little diamonds. I'd like that. But you really shouldn't worry about it, it's not important. It's just a ring." Lily answered, sighing.

"I'll get it for you. Next weekend, I'll go down to Hogsmeade and get you one. Do you want to come too or would you rather I choose it?"

Lily laughed softly. "James, you're being silly. I'll go with you, don't get all worked up over it."

"I want things to be perfect for you Lily."

Lily smiles as James pulled her into a hug. He held her tight for a long time, not wanting to let go. When he did, he kissed her softly.

"James-" Lily started.

"Don't worry. We'll take it slow. Just like you said."

Lily nodded before being pulled back again into a kiss.

* * *

**Loved it? Hated it? Review!**


	7. The Sneak And The Selfish

**Enjoy!**

**EDIT 8/Feb/06: This chapter has now been beta-ed.**

**

* * *

**

"Lily, I just got an owl from the Real Estate Agency. They say the papers will be ready tomorrow morning."

It was Friday night and Lily and James were in the Heads' Common Room finishing off some of their homework. Lily looked up from the Potions essay she had been working on, "That's great! I'm sure Dumbledore won't mind if we go to the Ministry to sign the papers tomorrow. We can go for lunch afterwards."

"And then we could go and get your ring. How does that sound?" James asked grinning at her.

"I can't believe you're still on about that. It sounds great but it would do anyway. You should write back saying we'll be there tomorrow," Lily answered as she went back to writing the essay.

"Lily…" he started. Seeing that Lily was paying attention, he continued, "I was thinking that maybe we should start looking around for furniture. I thought maybe we could spend Easter in the new house so we could get used to living together."

"Maybe that would work. Easter's in just over a month and we could use the weekends before to furnish the house… and it really would be good for us to go and live in it for a couple of weeks," Lily said looking thoughtful.

"So you don't think it's a stupid idea?" James asked anxiously.

"No, James, it's great. We could start tomorrow after lunch. There're these great places for furniture that I went to with my parents when we moved a few years ago."

"How about your ring?"

Lily laughed, "James, don't worry about it, we'll find the time to buy it."

James smiled, "If you say so…"

* * *

"Good morning, I'd like to know where I have to go to sign some papers for a house?"

"That would be Level 1 in the Real Estate Department."

James quickly thanked the woman at the desk and rushed off, pulling Lily with him.

"James, go slower! You're going to pull off my arm any second now!" Lily complained as they stepped into the elevator.

"It isn't my fault you take so long fixing yourself up!"

"I didn't take tha-"

"Shhhh!" James and Lily turned to see several wizards frowning at them.

Once they were out of the elevator and in the Real Estate Office, they re-started their argument.

"I don't even take that long! You were the one who over-slept!" Lily hissed.

"I need my sleep. And yes, you did take long, you were in there for 45 minutes. I timed it." James whispered, glaring at her.

"I need to look good!"

"Look good? Don't tell me you need make-up to sign some freaking papers!"

"Oh, come on James, you can't say it's not worth it. Unless…" she narrowed her eyes at him, "are you trying to say that I'm ugly and that nothing I can do will make me look good?"

James blinked, "I- I didn't say that Lily. You're very pretty."

James smiled nervously at Lily and she grinned back, knowing she had made her point.

"Mr. Potter?"

Lily and James looked around to see Mary-Anne Abott standing at the door to a small office.

"You can come in now, we have the papers ready for you to sign."

* * *

Once the papers were signed, Lily and James stayed back talking to Mary-Anne.

"I really do wish you two the best. I read in Witch Weekly about the Quill. God knows, when I told Sandy about you two, I didn't know she'd write an article about it!"

"You! You told Skeeter about it!" Lily accused, eyes narrowed.

"Why, of course! Who did you think it was?" Mary-Anne asked, startled. "She's my best friend! I just mentioned that I had had two teenagers in looking for a house and the day after it's in the magazine!"

"How could you? Can you imagine what we've gone through because of your fat mouth?" Lily asked, outraged.

"Now, now, let's not get over-excited! It was a silly mistake yes, but no need for you to react like that!" she said.

"I hate you!"

With that, Lily rushed out of the Real Estate Department, James at her heels and she only stopped when she was upstairs in the Atrium. She turned around, grabbed James' hand and they Disapparated.

* * *

"Lily, calm down! This isn't going to make it any better!"

"I don't care! That bitch told that Skeeter woman about us getting married, James! Everyone knows! I've had people all week coming up to me and making comments. How do you think I _feel_?" Lily yelled in the middle of the street.

"STOP, Lily! Can you just stop being a selfish bitch for once in your life? How do you think _I_ feel? This isn't just about you! It's about you, it's about me, it's about our parents, our friends and everyone around us," James shouted. "The world doesn't spin around you! There are other people involved too! You always think about yourself and screw everyone else! Well, guess what, Lily! I'm getting married to you because I have no other choice, and let me tell you, I am not going to put up with your attitude!"

He swivelled round and ran off, turning in a corner. And then he was gone.

* * *

Lily breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the portrait hole open. James walked in looking moody but Lily didn't care. She had been scared that something had happened to him. She got up to talk to him, "James, I'm-"

She stopped as she saw James throw something onto the table in front of the couch, walk past her and then go into his room, banging the door. She frowned, hurt and confused and sat back down. She picked up what James had thrown and she could now see it was a small, emerald green, velvety box.

Lily knew what it was but she was still surprised when she opened it. Inside was the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen. It was simple and just like she what she'd asked for. White gold with several tiny diamonds. She didn't know what was so special about it; she had seen some much more sophisticated rings before but this one was _different_. Maybe it was just because it was hers. Or maybe, most probably, because it had been James giving it to her.

Lily felt a tear slide softly down her cheek. He was right. He was so, so right. And she was very, very wrong.

* * *

"Go away," James said firmly. He wished she really would.

He heard knocking again, "James, _please_."

He sighed, exasperated. "Fine. You can come in."

He heard the door open but he looked away.

"James…"

He wanted to keep looking away, make her really, really hurt but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her eyes were bloodshot and pleading.

"James, I'm so, so sorry."

When James didn't answer, she walked closer and closer to him until she was at his side. Not knowing what he was doing, James reached out and took her into a hug.

* * *

**What did you think of it? Tell me - Review!**


	8. Back To Godric's Hollow

**Enjoy!**

**EDIT 8/Feb/06: This chapter has now been beta-ed.**

**

* * *

**

"So, what colour do you want the room to be?"

"Oh God, Lily, I don't know! I'll help you choose the furniture but don't ask me about colours and decorations. I'll leave that to you!"

"Whatever. But don't think you're getting off the painting. We've got to paint the rooms and I'm not doing it by myself. You should ask Remus and Sirius to come over and help and I'll ask Caitlyn. We'll have the whole house done over the weekend."

James nodded as they went into the furniture store Lily had mentioned.

"So… we need furniture for our bedroom, the nursery, the office and the living room. Shouldn't be too hard." James stated, looking around.

"You say that now. I want to get everything today so we can have stuff ready for the next couple of weekends."

As they looked around, James realized Lily was right. There were so many things but some were ugly, some were expensive and some just weren't the right thing for them.

"Oooh James, I like that bedroom set there. It's just what we need."

Checking for the price, they saw it wasn't too expensive and went to ask the sales lady for more information. They sat at the desk while she checked some stuff on the computer. James looked at it curiously for a while until Lily kicked him.

"This bedroom set's been selling really well. We're offering to deliver the furniture to your home and a 10 discount until the end of this month. Would you like to purchase it?"

* * *

"I think I'm going to faint; I'm so tired!"

James smiled lazily as he dropped down onto the couch next to Lily, "Yeah, well, we got all the furniture and the fabric and the paint and whatever else we need. And you sent the fabric to that woman to make all the bed covers and curtains and stuff. Don't complain!"

"I'm not, I had a nice time. We've got everything sorted now and next week we'll do painting and after that we'll furnish the place. Easter's going to be scary."

"Why?" James raised his eyebrows.

"Because I'll be stuck for two whole weeks with no one but you to keep me company. Not exactly my idea of heaven."

"Hey!" James exclaimed, faking shock.

Lily laughed at him, "I've never lived with anyone other than my family. It'll be weird."

"Yeah, well… It's a nice house and it seems like a pretty nice neighbourhood. I don't think we'll have many problems with that."

"Mmm… You're right," Lily inched up to kiss James. Kissing had become a habit now. They didn't know why they did it but it felt like the right thing to do. It gave them a self-satisfied feeling that they craved, needing some kind of comfort so they could forgive each other for their mistakes and forget what had gone wrong. Forgive and forget. It worked for them.

* * *

One month later, Lily and James apparated outside Godric's Hollow. Lily put the key in the lock and walked in.

"I think we did a pretty good job, don't you?"

"Yeah, it looks great. I like the colours, I'm glad I left those to you."

Lily laughed, "My parents invited us over for lunch. My sister's going to be there with her husband so be nice."

"I'm always nice!"

"Yeah, well, you won't be when you meet Petunia and Vernon. Trust me."

"Are they that bad?"

"Worse," Lily assured him. "We should get going James."

And with a POP, they were gone.

* * *

"Petunia, Vernon, this is James. James, this is Petunia, my sister and her husband, Vernon."

"Nice to meet you!" James greeted smiling. When he didn't get an answer, his smile faded. "Lily, I think your mom's calling us."

Lily followed James out into the entrance hall.

"Are they always like this?" he asked.

"Yeah. I told you, they're terrible. Just keep bright and try to avoid them. They'll try to embarrass you in front of my parents every chance they get."

"Lunch's ready!"

They were halfway through their meal when Jack, Lily's father, turned to James. "So James, Lily tells me there's an evil guy going around in the Wizarding World. Care to share?"

"Yes, it's become a huge problem for the Ministry. People dying all over the place, don't know who to trust. This guy – goes by the name of 'Lord Voldemort' - has been going around gathering support. Wants to rid the Wizarding World of half-blood witches and wizards and he's gathering supporters. We're told they're building an army, the giants have joined them and I read in the paper this morning that the Dementors had joined them too."

"Dementors?" Lily asked, clearly confused.

"Yeah, they guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. Terrible things, suck out all the happiness from you. We'll be lost with them on Voldemort's side. They'll kiss everyone that comes in his way. Suck out their soul!"

The table shook as Vernon returned to the table after having left to go to the bathroom and James glared at him.

"I really do hope nothing happens to you two because of him. Sounds terrible!" Janie said to break the sudden tension.

"More than you can imagine, Mom. But don't worry, James and Dumbledore put all these charms and spells around the house so it's perfectly safe. We can fight."

"Is that what you call waving sticks around?"

They turned to see Vernon looking at them in disdain. Petunia was smirking.

"Yes it is, Vernon, would you like a demonstration?" James asked sweetly.

Vernon blushed, "Er… no, I don't think that would be necessary."

James laughed, "Thought so. But if you change your mind, don't hesitate to ask me, I'd be perfectly happy to show you some magic."

Vernon shuddered and shook his head wildly, his face going purple.

"Now that everyone's finished, should we move on to the pudding?"

* * *

Vernon and Petunia left soon after lunch, both feeling humiliated. Lily and James, however, ended up staying for dinner and it was almost midnight when they finally left.

"My parents love you!" Lily exclaimed as they walked into their bedroom.

"They're great people. I can't say the same about your sister and Vernon. I swear I saw him holding onto the table so he wouldn't jump up and hit me."

Lily laughed as she took her stuff out of the closet. "I'll just go change," she said awkwardly as she walked to the bathroom.

After having changed into her new pearly blue night gown and brushed her teeth, Lily got out, "James, you can use the bathroom now."

She was getting into bed when he came out (looking very cute as Lily couldn't help notice) and looked nervously at the bed. He coughed. "Erm…"

When Lily raised her eyebrow at him he pulled back the covers and jumped in. Putting the duvet back over them again, he looked anxiously at Lily who turned off the light with a wave of her wand.

Scared at first, but then feeling more confident, he reached out to Lily who jumped when she felt something brush her arm. Realising that it had only been James, she relaxed and kissed him as she was pulled in his direction. He wrapped his arms around her waist and moments later, they were both asleep.

* * *

**Loved it? Hated it? Review! **

**Sorry it was short, I wanted to give you a chapter cause I don't know when I'm going to be posting the next one.**

**Also, I dunno if anyone noticed but that was when Petunia heard James telling Lily about the Dementors. That's why I had to put Vernon coming back from the bathroom, so that I could show he didn't know anything about it.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Mortal Peril

**Heyy!**

**So it's been like a whole month since my last update. Sorry! I started school and I had a bunch of work due in and I didn't have time. Plus the fact that I had Chapter 9 on my USB Stick which broke. And all my work was there.**

**I'm going to try to start writing bigger chapters but I really couldn't make this one any longer. Seriously. I needed to get all these things happening before the next chapter - which I dunno if you can tell but I am very excited about.**

**Also, Chapters 5, 6, 7 & 8 have now been checked by Elle who offered to BETA since I've been having problems contacting my previous BETA. She has also checked this chapter. Thank you Elle!**

**Enjoy!**

**Sara**

* * *

Something was touching her face, caressing it softly. She felt sloppy kisses on her cheeks and smiled.

"Lily?"

She opened her eyes slowly, looking around. James grinned at her, "Morning..."

Lily smiled and pulled him toward her, kissing him. "Morning," she whispered.

"I made breakfast for us. I just came to wake you up."

"I'm not sure I want to walk all the way downstairs to the kitchen. I feel like staying in bed all day …"

Earning a shriek from Lily, James picked her up, and carried her downstairs to the kitchen. He placed her on a chairat the kitchen table in front of a plate of pancakes and sat down opposite her.

"Do you have anything planned for today?" James asked as they finished eating their pancakes.

"I'm meeting up with Caitlyn. We're going for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and then we'll go shopping. I'll be back after dinner."

"Mmm… I'm going out with Sirius, Peter and Remus tonight." James said quietly, looking down at his plate. "I'm leaving early and I'll be back late."

"How late?"

"Late."

* * *

"Oh my God! Lily, imagine _you_ in this!"

Lily looked at what Caitlyn was holding and burst into a fit of giggles.

"No, I'm serious. You can wear it on your wedding night. James won't know what hit him!"

"Let me look at that…" Lily muttered taking it from Caitlyn's hands. She held up the matching black lacy lingerie.

"Do you think it would suit me?" she asked testily.

"You're not actually going to buy it are you?"

"I don't know, maybe I am now that you mention it. Would it make my skin look too pale?"

"_Lily_!"

"What? Look, I need to wear something that will get James' mind off the fact that we're being forced to do this. Maybe this will work."

"I don't know, I guess it would look good with your red hair. Try it on!"

Lily giggled and went into a cubicle, putting on the lingerie Caitlyn had picked out. Once she wasfinished, she pushed back the curtain slightly and whispered to Caitlyn, "I've put it on, come in so I can show you!"

Lily stood awkwardly as her friend looked at her and burst out laughing.

"Do I look _that_ bad?"

Caitlyn shook her head furiously, "No, I was just imagining the look on James' face when he sees you wearing that. You look _hot_."

"Really?" Lily asked anxiously. "Should I get it then?"

"_Yes_. Come on, we have some more shopping to do!"

* * *

Lily opened the door to her house and dropped the two dozen bags she had been carrying. Sighing, she walked into the kitchen to find a piece of parchment lying on the kitchen table.

_Lily, _

_Didn't have time to wait for you to come back, Sirius was bugging me to go. I'll be back late so don't stay up waiting for me._

_Hope your day went well,_

_James_

Lily looked over to the clock on the wall. She had gotten it a few weekends ago at a shop that sold clocks showing the whereabouts and condition of each member of the family – in this case, she and James. She'd added a small digital clock she'd bought at a muggle shop on the bottom. Her pointer was currently pointing to 'Home' whilst James' pointed to 'Travelling'. Seeing that it was already 10:00 pm, Lily brushed her teeth and got into bed.

* * *

Lily woke up and when she didn't find a sleeping James by her side, sat right up, turning on the light and grabbing her watch. 3:45 am. Lily frowned and got out of bed, walking down the stairs to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of milk and turned around, only to see something that made her stop, frozen to the spot. Whilst her pointer was still directed at 'Home', James' had moved and was now pointing to 'Mortal Peril'.

Sitting on a chair, she shook her head.

"That can't be right…" she muttered to herself.

Lily felt a tear fall slowly down her cheek and put the glass of milk down on the table, putting her head in her hands.

"_Please_, make it not be true. _Please_."

Getting up she started to pace around the kitchen, looking up every minute to look at the clock. 30 minutes later, when she looked up, she breathed a sigh of relief. James' pointer had moved to 'Travelling' and moments later, it moved again to 'Home'. Lily rushed to the door and opened it to find James looking at her, startled.

"_James_…"

"Lily, what are you doing? I told you not to stay up waiting for me. Please tell me you got the note." James said as he walked into the house.

"I didn't stay up, I just woke up a while ago and I went to the kitchen and your pointer on our clock was pointing to 'Mortal Peril' and I was so, so scared something had happened. Are you hurt?" Lily asked anxiously, helping him take of**f** his cloak.

"Lily, I'm fine, things just didn't go so well. Calm down. I'm just going to take a shower and then we're _both_ going to bed. You look tired, I _am_ tired and we need to rest."

"OK. There's towels in the-"

"Lily, I know. This is also my house and I also helped you put everything in place. Just stay calm, have a glass of milk and then go to bed."

* * *

James groaned as he sat on the bed.

"James, where does it hurt? Just tell me, I know a few healing charms and maybe I'll be able to ease the pain."

"Lily don't worry about it, I just need to get some sleep."

Lily nodded as James got under the covers and settled down next to her. A while later, Lily turned to face him, "James…"

"Yeah?"

"Was it Remus? Did he try to attack you?"

"Lily, what-" James stopped and took a deep breath. "How do you know about this?"

"Oh, come on James, I'm not stupid. Isn't it just a little strange how Remus just happens to 'be sick' every time there's a full moon and that you, Sirius and Peter go with him? _And_ that Remus always comes back looking like death? I see these things, James. I've known since fifth year." Lily whispered. "I just don't know why you three go with him. Isn't it obvious that he's going to attack humans?"

"That's the thing, Lily. We're not humans when we're with him."

"What?"

"Peter, Sirius and I managed to become Animagi without the Ministry knowing so that we could go with Remus every time there's a full moon. It helps to keep him calm and stop him from biting himself."

"_James_! That's totally illegal! They'd send you to Azkaban for that!"

"We couldn't resist. It took us ages to find out how to do it and we knew it would help Remus. We're his friends; we had to do _something_ for him!"

Lily shook her head in disbelief.

James reached out to Lily and pulled her towards him. "Lily, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I was just scared of how you'd react."

James kissed Lily softly.

"I'll let you know when it's the full moon again. I don't want you staying up late worrying," he whispered, holding her close.

* * *

**Loved it? Hated it? Review!**

**I dunno when I'm going to be able to post the next chapter but I don't think it'll take as long because I'm really excited about Chapter 10 (!)**

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!**


	10. Mistakes

**Chapter 10 (!)**

* * *

The next day, Lily walked into the kitchen sleepy eyed to find James fully dressed, putting away some plates.

"Good morning," she mumbled.

"It's actually 'good afternoon' but I'll let that one pass."

Seeing Lily's questioning look, James laughed and pointed over to the clock on the wall.

"It's almost four pm and I have a job interview at the Ministry in 30 minutes."

"Job interview?" Lily asked as she walked over to James to give him a kiss.

"Yeah, I saw an ad in the _Daily Prophet_ and I thought it'd be interesting."

"What kind of a job?"

"Secretary."

Lily snorted.

"What?"

"Honestly James," she started. "Do you really think you were made to sit behind a desk sorting out papers? You belong outside, doing what you do best."

"Which is…?"

"I don't know. I mean, you like Quidditch, and you're a good chaser, you should think of trying out for a place on a team."

"Do you really think I could get in?"

"James, there's a lot of hopefuls trying to get in. But I do think that if you do your best, you have a larger chance of getting in. It's just a matter of trying."

"I'll think about it. I'm still going to this interview though; we need the money."

"Yeah, yeah… Two weeks working there and you'll go insane." Lily laughed as James kissed her goodbye.

* * *

Lily towelled her hair dry as she went into hers and James' room, having just come out of the shower. She opened her underwear drawer and looked around, spotting the black lingerie she had bought the day before neatly folded in a corner. She took it out, holding it carefully and put it on. She looked in the full-length mirror on the wall and was pleased with what she saw. Lily sighed as she turned around, analyzing every inch of her body, paying attention to every detail.

* * *

James' heart skipped a beat as he opened the door to his and Lily's bedroom. Lily was standing in the middle of their room, looking at herself wearing the sexiest pieces of clothing he had ever seen in his entire life. He inhaled sharply, mesmerised as he stood, watching her as she was oblivious to his presence in the room. She had matured. James had seen her several times in a bathing suit but this… was different. She had developed curves in just the right places, her skin was soft and creamy, her red hair was wet and mussed up in the most perfect way and her emerald green eyes sparkled like glitter. He sighed as he walked over to the bed and sat down, watching her, taking her in the whole time.

* * *

Lily jumped, startled as she heard a sigh behind her. She turned around to see James sitting on their bed, looking at her as if bewitched.

"J- James?" she whispered, frowning, not quite believing he was there, seeing her wearing something so intimate and revealing.

"Yeah…"

Lily turned away, screwing up her face with embarrassment. She walked over to a chair in the corner and retrieved her bath robe, which she wrapped around her softly.

"When did you get that?" James asked hoarsely.

"The underwear?"

James nodded.

"Yesterday when I went shopping with Caitlyn. Why?"

"Just wondering." James answered mildly.

"Mmm… James?"

"Yeah?

"How long were you… watching me?"

"Not very long."

"OK." Lily turned around and opened her drawer getting out a t-shirt, jeans and some other underwear.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting some clothes so I can get dressed." Lily answered simply.

"No. Don't go."

"What?" Lily frowned and looked at James for a long time, searching for some sort of hint or answer as to what he meant.

"Don't. Go." James answered, getting up and walking over to her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been staring. I should have let you know I was in here."

Lily nodded and gulped as James got closer and closer. He put his arms around her waist and lowered his mouth to hers. Lily wasn't ready for this and James had to hold her as they kissed, slowly at first, but then more passionately and with a sudden hunger that neither of them had known was there.

James picked Lily up softly and laid her on their bed, unbuttoning his shirt and watching as she untied her robe. His mouth went back to hers as they continued to slowly take each other's clothes off, stroking, caressing and kissing every newly uncovered area. He kissed her tears away as he entered her, wanting all her pain to disappear. They didn't say a word the entire time, concentrating on what they were doing.

And it was perfect while it lasted.

* * *

Lily watched as James drifted off to sleep. He looked so innocent and peaceful lying there next to her, the duvet covering both of them. She turned away and tried to find a comfortable position. When she got fed up with moving around, she just lay there, thinking. Slowly, the reality of what had just happened dawned on her. Her body began to shake as she realized the total irresponsibility of their actions. The Quill had very strict rules. What if unintentionally, they had broken them and something horrible was to happen? What if she was to become sterile and then die because she couldn't reproduce as the Quill required? What if it all went wrong?

A dry sob escaped from her throat, quickly followed by another. Tears started streaming down her face as she jumped up, wrapping her robe around her, and grabbing her clothes before running to the bathroom, trying to stop James from waking up. Locking the door, she sat on the edge of the bathtub and let the tears fall freely, sobbing, gasping for air as she cried and cried. It was wrong, wrong, wrong! They were friends and they had let themselves get carried away, not thinking about what they were doing. She'd been so stupid! How could she have let it happen? How could she have gone with it?

* * *

James opened his eyes sleepily as he heard the bathroom door lock. Lily was no longer at his side and her bathrobe was gone. He lay in bed, listening to her dry, loose sobs. He had caused this. It was his fault. He had kissed her, he had undressed her, he had forced her into something she wasn't comfortable with. Now she was in the bathroom, door locked, crying her heart out because of his selfish actions. He put his head in his hands as he realised that they had used no protection whatsoever. What if she got pregnant? What if it all went wrong?

* * *

Lily sniffed as she unlocked the bathroom door. She'd gotten under the hot water for a few minutes and was now fully dressed. She spotted James on their bed watching her.

"Where're you going?" he asked.

"Out."

"Where?"

"Out."

"Will you be back late?"

"Anything can happen." Lily answered as she took some money from her bed-side table and stuffed it in her wallet.

"Lily, we need to talk."

Lily got a large duffel bag from under their bed and started stuffing in a bunch of clothes, not really paying attention.

"Lily, what're you doing?"

"Putting clothes in a bag."

"What for?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure."

She zipped up the bag and walked out of the room and down the stairs.

"Lily!" she heard James calling from behind her. However, by the time he got to the entrance hall, she had disapparated.

* * *

**Loved it? Hated it? Review!**


	11. She Had It Coming

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Caitlyn Randall woke up startled, hearing the doorbell ring continuously. Sighing, she got up from bed, tied her robe around her waist and walked to the front door. She opened it cautiously.

"Lily?"

"Oh my god, Caitlyn!" Lily dropped her duffel bag and pulled Caitlyn into a breath-taking hug.

"Lily, what happened?" Caitlyn asked, picking up Lily's bag and letting her in.

"I- I walked out."

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean 'walked out'? Lily, did something happen?"

Suddenly, Lily burst into tears. Caitlyn sighed and took her friend over to the sofa and sat her down.

"Lily, tell me. Did you have a fight with James?"

Lily shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face.

"Did he cheat on you? Oh no, wait, he can't do that because of the Quill… Then what was it? Tell me, Lily; I won't be able to help you unless you tell me what happened."

Again, Lily shook her head and Caitlyn sighed, "OK, you can tell me later. I'll just fix you up some hot chocolate and you can just rest on the sofa for a bit."

* * *

Once Lily had calmed down, Caitlyn approached her.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

Lily sighed, "Caitlyn, I don't want to talk about it. I really, really don't."

"So you just want to stay here? Just like that?"

"Please?"

"Lily, I don't know if I can let you do that."

"Why, Caitlyn? Why is it so hard for you to help me? Just this once?"

"Lily, my parents live here too, you know."

"They live downstairs. The entire first floor is yours, they gave it to you. They won't mind having me here."

"Lily, something happened with James and you're very upset. Maybe you should go back and talk it out with him. You two need to sort out your problems. I won't be helping you if I let you stay here."

"So, what? Are you just going to be like that and abandon me?"

"Lily, stop being so selfish! The world doesn't rotate around you!" Caitlyn cried, sighing. "Fine, you can stay in the extra bedroom."

"Oh, God, Caitlyn, thank you so much!"

* * *

James sighed as he woke up. Lily had been gone since the previous afternoon and he hadn't heard from her since. He missed her so, so much. He'd missed her at night when he'd fixed up some dinner and sat at the kitchen table to eat it, he'd missed her when he'd gone to bed and he missed her now. If only he could take back what had happened, make it all different, erase it, make it disappear.

* * *

"Caitlyn, I'm going out." Lily said as she grabbed her bag from the space next to the couch.

"To where?" Caitlyn asked, eyebrows raised.

"Just to have a walk around, clear my head."

"OK, don't be long."

"I won't." Lily assured, smiling weakly.

* * *

James got up and walked into the bathroom, grabbing a towel from the cupboard. He got into the shower, letting the steaming hot water run over his body, washing away every bad feeling, every negative emotion.

He got out, tying the towel around his waist. He was going to get dressed, have breakfast and then go looking for Lily. He'd go anywhere to find her, do anything to know she was OK. He had to talk to her. It wasn't just his fault what had happened, he'd realized and he was determined to have this out as soon as possible.

* * *

"Good afternoon."

"Healer Schmidt, I'm Lily Evans, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Please take a seat."

"Thank you." Lily said as she took a seat in front of the Healer's desk. She'd requested a woman specifically, she couldn't stand the idea of talking to men at the moment

"Now, Miss Evans, what brings you here today?"

"My boyfriend and I had s-sex and we didn't use protection." Lily answered nervously.

"May I know why?"

"We got a little carried away, didn't think about it."

"I see. Was this your first time?" Healer Schmidt enquired, taking some notes.

"Yes. And his too."

"So I assume you wanted to know if there's an emergency contraceptive?"

"Yes." Lily responded, looking around her.

"When did you have sex?"

"Yesterday afternoon." Lily answered, biting her lower lip.

"Very well, I'll prescribe a Morning-After Potion that you'll be able to pick up at the chemist's in Diagon Alley, free of charge."

"Thank you. Um… I wanted to ask you, what contraceptive method should I use, before actually having sex, to prevent pregnancy?"

"If you're responsible enough, and willing to do it, I could also prescribe a potion that you should take every day. They'll explain it better at the chemist's."

"Yes, please."

"Alright, Miss Evans, here you go." Healer Schmidt said as she handed over a small piece of parchment. "Just show it at the chemist's in Diagon Alley, and they'll know what to give you."

"Thank you, Healer Schmidt, pleased to meet you, have a nice day." Lily said as she shook hands with the Healer's. That'd gone better than she thought it would.

"You too, Miss Evans, you too."

* * *

"Caitlyn, I'm back."

"So I see, how're you feeling? Better?" Caitlyn asked, looking at Lily over her magazine.

"Yeah, quite."

"That's good."

The doorbell rang.

"Let me just get that," Caitlyn said, as she got up from the couch.

"Go ahead, I'm going to my room." Lily answered, walking out into the corridor.

Caitlyn opened the door and her eyebrows went up when she saw James standing at her doorstep, looking very distressed.

"Is she here?" he asked anxiously.

"Hello to you too James. Who's here?"

"Hey. Lily. She left yesterday and I don't know where she is and I really need to find her."

"Yes, Lily's here. Why?"

"Is she OK?"

"I think so." Caitlyn answered, shifting nervously.

"Can I talk to her?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, James."

"Why not?" he enquired, eyebrows lifted.

"She's upset, James."

"Caitlyn, please."

"I'm sorry, James."

"Please, Caitlyn, please. I just want to talk to her, I won't do anything." James assured.

"James, no."

"Caitlyn, please…" he begged.

"I can't, James."

"Jesus Christ, Caitlyn, why can't I freaking go in and talk to her? Has she decided she's going to be proud and stuck up and not going to talk to me? Is that it?"

"James, calm down." Caitlyn pleaded.

"I won't calm down! It takes two to fuck and she was into it too! I'm not going to accept responsibility for what happened!" James hollered.

"Wait a minute… You and Lily slept together?"

James froze. "You didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't, Lily was really upset, I didn't want to bother her. James, what happened?"

"We were kissing and we got carried away and next thing I know, she's locked herself in the bathroom, crying her eyes out. What's a guy supposed to do? She just got out, packed her stuff and left. I went after her but she'd gone."

"This is too much to take in…" Caitlyn breathed, frowning.

"Caitlyn, can I talk to her? Please?"

"Fine, yes, you can come in. Second room on the left, knock first."

"Caitlyn, thank you so, so much."

"Whatever."

James walked down the corridor and knocked on the second door to the left.

"Come in."

* * *

**Cliffie!**

**Loved it? Hated it? REVIEW!**


	12. It All Comes Out

**Heyy!**

**This is a really short update, I'm kinda stuck right now with what to write and I needed to atleast get their conversation done.**

**Thanks to Elle for beta-ing.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Lily Evans stared at one very angry James Potter.

"What are you doing here James?"

She watched as his face softened.

"I wanted to know if you were okay."

She turned away, looking through the window and watching a few children playing hide and seek. She wanted to smile but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"I'm okay," Lily whispered.

"Come home, Lily. Come back."

Lily shook her head and turned back to face James.

"I can't James. I'm sorry."

"Lily, I miss you."

Lily shook her head once again.

"Lily, we need to talk."

A small laugh escaped from her mouth as tears prickled at the back of her eyes.

"The four words guys fear most. 'We need to talk'. That's so ironic, James, don't you agree?"

"Lily I-"

"You what, James?"

"I miss you, I want you to come back home, I want to talk it all out, I want our problems to go away. But you know what I want most Lily? I want you to be happy."

"Do I look happy to you James? Do I?"

"Honestly, no, you look like crap." James admitted, sighing as he sat on a chair in the corner.

"Thanks."

"But you look gorgeous to me all the same."

"James-" Lily started.

"Lily, let's just sit down and talk. Please. Ten minutes! Then, if you want, I'll leave."

"Fine. Ten minutes, then."

"Lily, do you regret what happened yesterday?"

"Yes. N-no." Lily answered nervously.

"I don't either. Lily, I like you – very much. I don't regret any of it. At all. Because I enjoyed it. I really, really did. And I know you did too. I don't know what's gone wrong but I want everything out. You tell me what's bothering you and I'll tell you what's bothering me. Is that okay?"

"It's fine."

"I really don't understand why you ran out yesterday."

"James… I'm confused." Lily whispered softly, not looking him in the eye.

"About what?" James asked, his face full of concern.

"James we've only been together for two months and we've already – you know… I did want to, I don't regret it. But what happens now? What about the Quill? I don't know what to think, I don't know what to feel… I'm lost, James."

"I'm lost too Lily. It's normal. We've gotten off track and we don't know how to get back. We have tohelp each other Lily. We're getting married in 2 or 3 months, we're having at least one kid, I'm 18, you're 17… Anyone would get lost if they were in our situation. I just want you back home, with me."

"James, it's not that simple-"

"It is, Lily, it is. You're just making it complicated! It's so damn simple! We need to make an effort to make it work but we _can_ do it Lily, we have to do it if we want to go through with the wedding."

"But what if something happened with the Quill, what if we broke a rule, what if-"

"Lily, we'll go down to the Ministry tomorrow and try to talk to someone there or we can go to their library. They've got something about the Quill in there for sure."

"James?"

"Yeah…?"

"I went to the healer today, I'd just gotten back when you rang the doorbell. She put me on the potion."

"Did you tell her about yesterday?"

Lily nodded, "Yeah. She prescribed a morning-after potion and I took it at the chemist's in Diagon Alley."

"I'm glad, Lily. I really, really am."

An uncomfortable silence overtook the room.

"Lily… Come back? Please…?"

"Okay. I'll come back."

James grinned and pulled her into a kiss.

* * *

Caitlyn eyed the duffel bag in James' hand as he came into the living room behind Lily.

"Going back home now, are we?"

Lily nodded.

"Thanks for letting me stay, Caitlyn."

"It's fine…" Caitlyn answered as she pulled Lily into a hug. "We need to do some talking now, don't we?" she muttered into Lily's ear.

"We do? About what?" Lily asked innocently.

"Don't think you're getting away without giving me the details, Miss Evans-soon-to-be-Potter." Caitlyn answered as she let Lily go. She turned back to James, "I'll be stealing Lily in a couple of days. Girl-time, you know?"

James laughed, "Whatever you like, Caitlyn."

"Bye Lily, James."

* * *

**Please Review!**


	13. A Wedding, A Baby and Jodie Dakvaala

**I'm sorry for the long wait for the chapter, I've been really, really busy and just couldn't find time to write more for this fanfic. I finished school today and we only go back in two weeks so I'll get to write more.**

**I wanted to thank you all for reviewing, I've actually gone over 100 reviews now!**

**As usual, thank you to Elle for beta-ing.**

**Sara**

* * *

"So… you didn't tell me how your interview went."

"What interview?"

Lily laughed as she sat on the couch in their living room, "Don't try to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, James."

"You're too smart for your own good, Lily." James responded, grinning.

"Yes, I know that. But don't try to change the subject; I want to know every single little detail."

James sat on the armchair and sighed. "It was fine, I guess. The guy interviewing me didn't seem too keen on having an eighteen year-old working as his secretary. Maybe I wasn't made to sit at a desk sorting out papers."

"I told you so. James, you belong outside. They're having tryouts from Quidditch teams in mid-July, maybe you should go. You have as much chance as anyone else of getting in, if not more. You're great."

"Yes, I know, I'm wonderful, aren't I?"

Lily laughed as she got up to go and fix dinner, "Only sometimes, James, only sometimes."

* * *

"James…" Lily started as they sat at the kitchen table, eating their dinner.

"Yeah?"

"We've got to start planning the wedding, you know. My birthday is on the 24th of June and we don't have much time left."

"I thought you didn't want a big wedding."

"James, I don't, but there is some planning needed. When are we going to sign the papers? Do we want anyone to go there and watch? Will we dress up? Will we have a honeymoon? We need to fix these things up, James."

"You're right. But how about we do this all tomorrow when we've had a good night's sleep and have a clear head? Because I really don't feel like discussing this right now." James proposed, sighing.

"OK. That'll be fine. But _do_ you want a honeymoon?" Lily asked, smiling softly.

"Um… sure. Maybe a week or two away. That might be fun, I guess."

"Great, we'll have a honeymoon. We can go somewhere sunny; spend a couple of weeks at the beach. I'll like that." Lily said, dreamily. "But, yeah, I've got a job interview tomorrow morning."

"Really? Where?" James asked curiously.

"At this club in Diagon Alley, they need someone to help serve at the bar and dance, to get things moving a bit."

"Pole dancing…?"

"What? No, James, don't be ridiculous. Just dancing normally to get the mood going. It's a nice club, we can go there tomorrow night, see what it's like."

"Yeah, that'd be good. I don't want you working in some shifty place where any guy can attack you."

Lily burst out laughing, "James, don't worry about it, it's a nice, safe place."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll believe in it when I see it."

* * *

"Next."

Lily got up and stepped into a small office.

"Take a seat, Miss…"

"Evans. Lily Evans." She answered as she sat on the chair in front of the desk, facing a witch in her late 20's, with spiky, dark blue hair and an eyebrow piercing,

"Right, OK, Miss Evans, I'm Jodie Dakvaala. Do you have your CV with you?" the witch asked.

"Um, yeah, I do." Lily answered as she dug into her bag, searching for the roll of parchment where she'd written her personal details in her neatest writing. Finding it, she smiled and handed it over.

Jodie Dakvaala raised her eyebrows, "I can't say I'm impressed. You had excellent grades for your O.W.L.s but you haven't even done your N.E.W.T.s yet and you're only 17. Do you really need this job?"

"Yeah, quite." Lily answered nervously.

"Do you mind telling me why?" Jodie asked sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to butt into your personal business but I need to know more before I even consider you."

"I'm getting married sometime in July and we have to have a baby within two years of the wedding. It's kinda complicated… I don't suppose you've heard of Pandora's Quill?"

"I have actually; my friend was telling me about this the other day. You wouldn't be the girl in that article from Witch Weekly?"

Lily nodded.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry. I would hate to be in your situation. How are you getting along?"

"Oh, we've accepted it, James and I were already very good friends. We're living together and we desperately need to get money to pay for the house and then for the baby's stuff." Lily admitted, biting her lip. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't bother you with this, you're here to interview me, not to hear me go on and on about my problems."

"No, it's OK, really. Well, we usually have potential candidates come and serve for a night so we can see how they work and if we'd like them to work here. Almost like an audition, y'know? Well, I want you to come by at around 11 tonight and you'll be serving at the bar for a while and we'll see where it goes from there. Is that fine?"

"It's perfect, thank you Ms. Dakvaala," Lily answered, getting up.

"Call me Jodie, Lily. I'll see you tonight then, don't be late."

"I won't!"

* * *

Lily smiled as she walked into hers and James' room to find her fiancée sleeping, his head popping out from under the covers. She removed her robes, kicked off her shoes and got into bed. James mumbled and turned around to face her, slowly opening his eyes.

"Good Morning." She whispered.

"Morning. How did the interview go?" James muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"It went OK. I ended up telling her about the Quill."

"You're kidding! Lily, that's totally asking her to reject you. They don't want a pregnant chick working there."

"No, but she was totally understanding about it. She read that article in Witch Weekly apparently and she asked me to go in tonight and serve at the bar so they could see if I work well."

"Don't get your hopes up Lily."

"James, don't be so negative, I'm the pessimistic one here! We'll see how it goes. If they don't take me in, I'll find somewhere else to work."

James grinned sleepily at her and pulled her towards him, "You're right, I'm sorry."

"James… can you imagine what it'll be like when we're actually married and we have our own little baby to take care of? And then when he grows up and starts walking and talking…"

"Yeah… I can't wait to hear him say his first swear word."

Lily laughed. "Boy or girl?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want the baby to be a boy or a girl?"

"A boy. Imagine a little me with green eyes walking around with a mini Sirius Black by his side." James answered, smiling to himself.

"That would be a nightmare. I don't know how your mother got through it."

"I'll have you know I was a very cute baby."

"I believe you."

* * *

**Hope you liked Chapter 13, please REVIEW!**


	14. Moving On

**Heyy!**

**First of all, I just wanted to apologise for taking so long to update. I've been busy as hell and I really didn't have time. I honestly can't say when the next update will be up. It might be soon, in a week or so, or it might be after school finishes (which means you'll be waiting until July 7th because that's when we finally break up).**

**Second, I have to say that I really likes this Chapter. It's got quite alot of stuff that I wrote about without having any personalexperience and I think I did a pretty good job. Yes, this does mean there's sex in the Chapter but just like with last time, it's not explicit. At all.**

**Third, I wanted to thank Elle for BETAing and getting the chapter back to me so fast.**

**Hugs,**

**Sara**

* * *

"Lily, exactly how much longer will it take you?" James asked, as he waited for Lily to leave the bathroom.

"Don't be so inpatient, I'm nearly done!" Lily answered, sounding slightly annoyed.

"You said that 15 minutes ago! You're going to be late and in your situation, you can't afford for that to happen."

James watched as Lily opened the bathroom door and rushed out, "There, I'm done – happy now!"

"Finally! How long does it take you to get dressed?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "James, it's 10:30. Don't be in such a rush! How about we apparate a small distance from the bar and then walk there? How does that sound?"

"Fine," James mumbled, handing Lily her purse and taking her hand, "It sounds fine."

* * *

"Hey Lily! You're right on time; I need someone to take over." Jodie Dakvaala said as she handed a customer a glass containing a fire-red drink that was bubbling and releasing a worrying amount of smoke.

"Hey Jodie, this is my fiancé, James. James, this is Jodie Dakvaala, the owner of this club."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Dakvaala," James said as he shook Jodie's hand.

"Oh, just call me Jodie," she said smiling. She turned to Lily and led her and James through a door saying 'STAFF ONLY'. "Right, well, pick a locker, deposit your stuff and then I need you at the bar. I'm just going to give you a quick course today and if you have questions, just ask one of the other guys serving at the bar, they'll help you out."

At the bar, Jodie quickly showed her how things worked and gave her a quick run-through of all the drinks she'd be required to make.

"Got any questions?" Jodie asked.

"Um, no, not really." Lily answered, biting her lip.

"Great! I've got to be going, I'll be back in a few hours to see how you're doing. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great, Jodie, thanks."

"No problem!"

* * *

"Lily!"

Lily jumped, startled as she turned around to see Jodie Dakvaala grinning at her.

"Sorry, did I scare you?"

Lily nodded, "It's OK, just wasn't expecting it."

"How're things going around here? Keeping up?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I like this."

Jodie laughed, "You're doing great, I've been watching you."

Lily smiled gratefully, "Thank you."

"No problem. Anyways, it's almost four thirty and I thought you might want to start heading home."

"Oh, that'd be great, thanks."

Smiling, Jodie answered, "Don't worry about it. I'll contact you in a couple of days, OK?"

"Yeah, that's fine, thanks."

* * *

"Did you like Jodie?" Lily asked as she got into bed next to James.

"Yeah, she was nice, I guess," he answered as he shifted closer to Lily to wrap his arms around her.

"She's been really great about all of this, you know. I wouldn't have expected her to be so understanding about it. She's really giving me a chance to prove myself and even if she doesn't accept me, I'll still be grateful that she gave me a chance whilst other people wouldn't do the same." Lily said, looking away sadly. "It's going to be hard to find a job with this whole thing going on. For both of us."

James hugged her tightly, holding her for almost a minute before letting go. "We'll get it through it together, Lily. We will, I just know we will."

Lily nodded, still not looking at James. He turned around to grab his wand and turn off the lights and then took Lily into a tight embrace, holding her this way until they'd both gone to sleep.

* * *

Lily woke up the next morning in a really good mood. She turned to face James who was still sleeping. Smiling, she got up and went into the bathroom.

She smiled at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, the water running in the shower behind her. As she got in, letting the hot water trickle slowly down her body, Lily couldn't help but sigh in content. She'd fallen asleep with James holding her and she had slept peacefully. She hadn't felt this good in a long, long time.

Lily jumped, startled, as he heard some noise from outside the shower.

"James, is that you?"

"Yeah, I just came in to brush my teeth."

"Okay…"

She had started to spread soap over her body when she felt something grab hold of her waist. She screamed and turned around quickly and then relaxed, seeing it had only been James who was standing, completely naked, in front of her.

"James…!" she hissed.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" he asked teasingly.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, turning around to try to cover herself up as much as possible. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to take a shower and you were already in here so I thought I'd get in. I didn't think you'd mind."

"I- I don't mind."

James smiled and leaned down to kiss her, water running down his back. Lily's hand went to his hair, massaging his scalp softly as he kissed her. Just as suddenly as the kiss had started, James had broken away and was grinning down at her cheekily.

"Admit it – I am sooo irresistible!"

* * *

James pulled a very wet and naked Lily into their bedroom and circled his arms around her waist, kissing her deeply. She responded as he picked her up softly, wrapping her legs tightly around his hips. He walked with Lily wrapped around him to their bed and lay her softly on the covers. He then looked at her, his eyes travelling down her body.

"Lily-"

"James, it's fine. I promise." She said reassuringly.

"I'm just scared that- that what happened last time will happen again. I don't want to upset you, I don't want to hurt you, I-"

"You won't, James, you won't. I'm on the potion and nothing will go wrong this time. _Nothing_. Please, just trust me."

James nodded and bent down to kiss her. "You're perfect Lily. You're gorgeous and I am so, so lucky to have you." He said between kisses.

Lily smiled at him and pulled him down on top of her. "You're not so bad yourself, Potter. You really aren't."

* * *

Lily sighed contentedly as she lay on the bed with her head on James' chest. Her hair was partially dry and all over the place but she couldn't care less – she'd had sex with James. Proper sex this time, there was nothing stopping them, no tension in the air and it had been perfect. There was honestly no other way of describing it.

James looked down at her and as their eyes met, he smiled. "Not going to pack your stuff and leave?" he asked teasingly. The second the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them. "I didn't mean it that way, Lily, I didn't; it was only a joke, I swear, I'm sorry, really, really sorry."

Lily smiled, "James, I didn't say anything. Though now that I think about it, who gave you the right to make fun of me, huh?" she asked as she turned around to smirk at him.

"You are the biggest little tease, did you know that?"

* * *

**OK, so that's it for Chapter 14. I just wanted to let you all know that now stuff is going to start moving. I've gone for 14 Chapters already and I need to fast forward so stuff will go a little faster. Anyways, REVIEW! )**


	15. Uncertainty

**UPDATE!**

**So I finally finished typing up Chapter 15 and sent it off to Elle who got it back to me. I'm sorry for the long wait (I don't know why even keep saying this, I take way too long every time) but here it is. Enjoy!**

* * *

"When do you have to go back to school?" 

"Sorry?" Lily asked as she tried to pack up her stuff to go home. It was almost six in the morning and she was still at Jodie Dakvaala's bar. James had finally agreed to stay home after much persuading on Lily's part but she was sure he had stayed up waiting for her. He had been coming with her to work for the past few days.

"Hogwarts; your Easter Holidays will be over soon." Jodie answered leaning on one of the locker doors.

Lily froze, "I… hadn't thought of that. School's been the last thing on my mind lately, I mean, James and I have just moved into our new house and I'm still getting used to it all. I forgot about it, I'm sorry Jodie, I should have thought about it earlier."

Jodie eyed her closely, nibbling softly on her lower lip. "Lily, I hired you because you needed help and I needed a new employee. In only a few nights you've proved to be quite efficient and I put all that before anything else. But… I need my employees to actually come to work, Lily."

Tears welled up in Lily's eyes against her will. "Does that mean I'm fired?"

"Lily, no. I can accept that you're in a difficult situation right now and I'm willing to let you go back to Hogwarts and then come back as soon as school is finished. I'll be able to get along with the employees I have now but during summer I need all the help I can get. However, I would like you to continue working until school starts; you need the practice."

Lily nodded thankfully and only whispered a hurried and embarrassed 'Goodbye' before leaving the bar to go home.

* * *

When Lily got home a few minutes later she found James sprawled out on the couch, his glasses hanging loosely from his nose. She slapped his face lightly and muttered his name, trying to wake him up. Only moments later, he opened his eyes looking around at his surroundings, "Lily?" 

"Yes, it's me. Come on, let's get you to bed, you fell asleep on the couch."

He yawned slowly as he got up from the couch and started following Lily up the stairs to their bedroom, "What time is it?"

Lily gradually turned around to face him. "Six. You should be in bed by now. You _knew_ that when I said I didn't want you coming it meant you should go to bed at a decent hour like someone normal."

"I know, Lily, but I stayed up waiting for you. I was worried."

Lily sighed deeply. "James… if this is going to work we're going to have to agree with some things here. I'll be sleeping during the day because I work at night. You have to sleep while I'm out… no Quidditch team is going to accept you if you show up for tryouts with circles under your eyes."

"I know that but if we're going to be working at different times this isn't really going to work out. We won't have time together, Lily."

"We'll figure something out James. Some other time, I'm going to take a shower now." Lily whispered, turning around.

"Can I com-" James started to say, feeling only slightly hopeful.

"No." Lily answered flatly before locking herself up in the bathroom.

* * *

Lily sighed as she finally got into bed. She wasn't used to working at night and was desperate to get to sleep. 

"You OK?" James asked, making Lily jump, clearly startled that he was still awake.

"Mmm… just tired." She replied, closing her eyes for a few moments. James moved in to kiss her but his lips had just brushed hers when she pushed him away and rolled around to the other side of the bed. "Not now, James," she said.

James turned away from Lily and dug his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut hard in order to stop himself from yelling out in frustration. "This isn't going to work, Lily," he whispered before grabbing his pillow and leaving the room.

Lily desperately tried to ignore what had just happened but she couldn't stop herself from staring after him, feeling a mixture of shame and guilt. Tears welled up in her eyes for the second time that night but this time she didn't do anything to stop them from running freely down her cheeks.

* * *

The rest of the Easter holidays passed by slowly. Lily and James rarely spoke at all and she had become used to getting home and seeing James sleeping on the couch, his new best friend and the place where he now slept every day. 

It was almost a relief when they climbed onto the Hogwarts Express to go back to school. James went off to find his friends whilst Lily walked slowly to Head's compartment. She had lied to Jodie about the day she was due back at Hogwarts and had gone to work the previous night. Part of her had done it because of the guilt she felt for leaving Jodie in this situation but another, stronger, part of her just didn't want to see James. She would never admit it but just the idea of staying home and watching him set up his bed on the couch, his pillows on the left side and the duvet messily tucked in at the sides, scared her. She couldn't (and wouldn't) ignore the accusatory and yet sad look in James' eyes every time they looked at each other.

Lily was constantly being tormented by the guilt she felt for acting the way she had that other night. She'd been extremely tired and dying to get to bed and she'd been unable to help herself from starting up an argument between her and James. Now, drowsy as ever and desperate to go to sleep, she regretted it all. She missed the comfort of having someone to talk to, to make her smile and laugh, but most of all she missed her most intimate moments with James. She missed his kisses – all of them -, his midnight hugs and cuddles and the very few moments in which they'd gone a step further. She'd been fascinated beyond belief at how they'd both been able to create a private world of their own and now she wanted nothing more than to kiss and hug James, as if nothing had ever happened. But she was alone now, walking to the Heads' compartment and wondering what James' reaction would be if she were to hug and kiss him, just like she'd fantasized moments before.

Lily's thoughts were interrupted as she saw Caitlyn walk in her direction, fighting her way to pass through the students that had now started circulating the corridor of the train, looking to find their friends before the train started moving.

"How hard is it," Caitlyn asked, "to just move out of the way for a seventh year to pass?"

Lily laughed as she watched the first and second years giggle and shuffle further down the corridor.

"Hey, Lily. You OK?" Caitlyn questioned, looking at Lily worriedly.

"Hey. Yeah, I'm fine, just tired." Lily answered.

The truth was Lily hadn't been sleeping much at all during the past week or so. She'd get home, terribly exhausted but just the sight of James sleeping on the couch (and looking extremely uncomfortable) was enough to take her sleep away. She'd lie in bed most of the day, sleeping for 30 to 40 minutes occasionally but mostly just thinking. She'd hear James leave, not bothering to close the front door quietly and then come back in. Sometimes he wouldn't be home for lunch or dinner and she'd lie in bed, rebelling tears streaming down her cheeks every once in a while. Lily didn't know the reason for which she cried but she was thankful she did anyway as the stress relief and occasional outbreaks were what kept her going.

She'd gone to her parents' house for lunch on Easter Sunday - leaving a note (which she'd found in the bin that day) for James, saying she'd be back in a few hours - and they had commented on how pale and worn-out she looked. She had dismissed it but Caitlyn seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her parents as she said "You sure? You look like you haven't slept in weeks. Lily, what's going on?"

"_Nothing_." Lily insisted. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, I'm just a bit tired; I've been working during the night at a bar in Diagon Alley."

"That's great!" Caitlyn exclaimed, looking truly happy for her best friend. "How's it going?"

"It's pretty good, I guess. Different place, different people." Lily answered dully, leading Caitlyn to the other end of train where the Heads' Compartment was located.

"Mmm… and how's stuff with James?"

Lily froze; this was the exact topic she'd been trying to avoid. "It's OK," she responded quietly.

"Oh, come on Lily, we both know something's not right. _I can tell_."

"We've been having some difficulties but it's nothing to be worried about. Nothing much." She answered feebly.

"Lily, what happened? You're standing in front of me and you're on the verge of tears. You look exhausted, damn Lily, you look sick. Your skin's all pale and dry and your hair's completely flat and lifeless and your eyes are surrounded with dark circles. I'm not stupid; _tell me what's going on_, I need to know." Caitlyn pleaded.

Lily shook her head fiercely but hot tears poured down her cheeks, "It's nothing Caitlyn, nothing I want to talk about. I'm sorry". Lily said before shutting the door the Head's Compartment behind her.

"I'll just go look for everyone else, then." Caitlyn muttered as she shuffled her way to the other end of the corridor.

**

* * *

**

**Hope you liked it and thank you for reading. PLEASE REVIEW!**


End file.
